In the latest season of Doctor Who (season 4 of 2008, with companion Donna Noble), the Doctor comes into some terrifying truths about humanity. A Time Lord from Gallifrey, the Doctor is 904 years old (according to the 2007 Christmas special) and travels around in a time machine called the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space).
In season 4, episode 10, Midnight, the Doctor is confronted with a terrifying and chilling take of humanity’s mob-mentality. When traveling across a planet called Midnight, a planet made of black diamonds, the transporting bus/vessel “breaks” down.
On this supposedly uninhabitable planet, the Doctor and the other travelers (a family: mother, father, and teenage son; a professor and his assistant; a woman traveling alone; and a stewardess) find themselves suddenly threatened by an unknown entity. The birth of a curious new life on this not-so uninhabitable planet.
But stranded and stricken, the terror and anxiety of the situation escalates into the chilling bowels of humanity.
Doctor Who is a wonderful show because of the emotions and thoughts that it provokes. The show takes contemporary issues and puts them in an alien (science fiction) setting. Such an action makes the issue more stark, more pronounced, and almost more terrifying. Because it shows that these issues the world has, these questions we ask, and these worries we have are easily universal. They can be placed in any sort of setting, situation.
An old show, and an old Time Lord, the Doctor has seen a lot and lived through even more. And every episode, in its own unique way shows this.
I’m particularly fond of Midnight because of the dynamics of the dialogue and acting. Stranded on a ship, with something strange and unexplainable, people will act in any way to figure out what it is and/or get rid of it.
And while I’m sucker for a show with good dynamics, dialogue, music, and acting – like House and Lost and West Wing (yeah, I know, old show) – there’s something different about Doctor Who. It’s hard to explain, but its there. Something unique and memorable that touches you in a way you can’t – no, you won’t – ever forget.
It’s fascinating and intriguing. And I highly recommend it for anyone and everyone.
This clip is from Midnight, it contains spoilers for the episode’s end:
